38 WOLF-HUNTING. 



surrounding scene. Here, if we except these predatory neigh- 

 bours, to which he is always paying tribute, but without gaining 

 their good-will, M. Gourdin is literally " monarch of all he surveys," 

 and, although a man of wealth, and a bachelor to boot, prefers 

 the solitude of the forest to the charms and amenities of a more 

 social life. 



Not two hundred yards from his chateau, in a dry hollow, 

 unplanted with fir-trees and wholly occupied by heather of a 

 gigantic growth, lies a patch of ground about four acres in extent, 

 which Keryfan pointed out to me as St. Prix's favourite " draw," 

 when he hunted this district. In the midland counties of England, 

 proprietors are wont to plume themselves on the perfection of 

 their fox gorse-covers ; and certainly, if art, judgment, and expen- 

 diture could ensure a " certain find " and a good run, they are 

 fairly entitled to such results. But here was a cover of nature 

 which no art could equal ; a homestead for wolves ; dark, dry, 

 quiet, and dense as an Indian jungle ; with deep woodlands on 

 all sides, into which, when disturbed by hounds, a wolf could 

 break at any point unviewed by mortal eyes. 



Our spaniels, with hackle up and terrified looks, regarded the 

 cover with infinite suspicion, and no coaxing nor encouragement 

 would induce them to show a nose within its dangerous precincts. 

 Hollow, arched runs, indeed, in the otherwise solid mass of 

 heather, indicated too clearly on its edge how frequently they were 

 used by wolves in their passage in and out from the surrounding 

 woods j and doubtless, by the manner of the spaniels, the scent of 

 the wild beast was even now strong on the heather. 



"Sensible dogs are they," said M. Gourdin, who had just 

 joined us, " not to enter that cover. Not a month ago, a she- 

 wolf and her litter fell upon my faithful old Hector, when 

 chained at my very door-post. I had gone to Goncarneau to 

 see the wonderful piscicultural establishment for sea-fish, which 

 M. Coste, a member of the Academy of Sciences, has managed 



